

If the player saves the hostage, they will enter the house directly through the front door however, if the player fails to rescue the hostage, the character is redirected to an underground route through the sewers. This is exemplified in the opening stage of the game when a hostage is about to be thrown from the bridge to his death.

Throughout the course of the game, players are faced with numerous situations in which their action (or inaction) will have an effect on the direction of gameplay. Similarly, there are also special items located in breakable objects that will grant a bonus to whomever shoots it. These are found either in the possession of hostage whom the player has rescued or inside breakable objects. First-aid packs are available throughout the game which restore one torch. The player dies when all torches are lost. When a player sustains damage or shoots a hostage, one of their torches is removed. A set of torches next to the magazine of each player represents remaining health. The characters’ pistols use magazines which hold 6 rounds players reload by shooting away from the screen.

Players use a light gun (or mouse, in the PC version) to aim and shoot at approaching zombies. The House Of The Dead III follows the template of the two earlier games, presenting a basic on-rails shooter where you (and a friend in the co-op mode -though not available in this PC version either) shoot the various rotting nasties as they burst through doors, climb ceilings, fall from the sky and crawl along the ground. The House of the Dead is a rail shooter light gun game.
